Cycling 5-6 Days/week Gaining Weight

ibelieve1968
ibelieve1968 Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am very confused. I just recently went from swing shift to dayshift (about 1 month ago) and began riding my bike 5-6 times a week anywhere from 30-90 min at a time at an avg speed of 12-13mph. I also purchased a Bodymedia Fit as well. My frustration is in that 4 weeks I have gained about 5 pounds. My calorie intake (not always healthy food) the majority of the time is at least 500 calories less (usually more than 500 less) than what it is saying my calorie burn is so I am completely confused as to why the weight gain. Any insight is greatly appreciated!!!

Replies

  • Jaydec70
    Jaydec70 Posts: 63 Member
    I bicycled across America and gained 3 pounds. At the time I did treat it as a license to eat and didn't watch my calories at all. I was definitely the fittest I have ever been at the end of that rip however, and definitely gained muscle and lost fat as well. I only stepped on the scale at beginning and end of trip too so not sure if there was any loss in between. Not sure this helps you, but I have found when I bicycle, I don't lose much, but I am much fitter anyway, but then again, I wasn't focused on calories at the time, just the exercise.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    I am very confused. I just recently went from swing shift to dayshift (about 1 month ago) and began riding my bike 5-6 times a week anywhere from 30-90 min at a time at an avg speed of 12-13mph. I also purchased a Bodymedia Fit as well. My frustration is in that 4 weeks I have gained about 5 pounds. My calorie intake (not always healthy food) the majority of the time is at least 500 calories less (usually more than 500 less) than what it is saying my calorie burn is so I am completely confused as to why the weight gain. Any insight is greatly appreciated!!!

    Change of exercise routine often leads to short term water retention (about 2-4 weeks). Drink plenty of water, keep exercising avoid overly salty foods and the water weight will come back off.

    Other than that, then the technology may not be calibrated/set properly and may be over-estimating your burns. Does it have age/gender/weight/height settings and have you double-checked they are correct?
  • KinoM
    KinoM Posts: 359 Member
    Hi OP, your diary indicates a lot of sodium day to day, try to keep this below your daily target for a week or two & that may have an impact.
    You've got a few very high calorie burn days, but I'd recommend eating back only about half of your calorie burn as this will allow for any differences between calculation & actual burn, as these numbers are always estimates.
    Since you're using a full time fitness tracker too, make sure your activity level in your goals on here is set to sedentary, otherwise you could be double counting calories burned.

    Best of luck!
  • steve2kay
    steve2kay Posts: 194 Member
    Same thing here, I've been exercising more recently (cycling, lifting), watching what I eat and am up in weight. I've had quite a lot of sodium recently and haven't been sleeping well so I'm putting it down to this and the swollen feeling in my legs and arms - which I'm assuming in water/blood in my muscles trying to react to the strain they've been put under.

    I'm going to try and keep my sodium down for a few days, make sure I drink lots and get some rest and see how it goes.

    Good luck
  • stephiehampshire
    stephiehampshire Posts: 160
    I cycle alot (aim to do 60 mins / 10 - 12mph / 5 days a week at minimum) and I have noticed feeling much better on the inside and my body shape is changing but my weight has only dropped 1lb in 2 weeks (which lets face it could be a big number 2 haha)

    I figured that my body will take time to adjust to me watching what I eat and exercising more

    Also I havent put myself on a diet, I log what I eat now so naturally try and stay within limits but I havent changed my food type so I still eat some crap (please dont use today as an example Im having my off day a day early)

    I was going to give myself another two weeks and if my weight loss still isnt happening as I intended (1-2lbs a week) then I am gong to review my food and set out a healthier food plan

    For me to be able to sustain what I am doing I can only handle baby steps so Im doing things little by little
  • RevolutionLifestyles
    RevolutionLifestyles Posts: 8
    Bare in mind the caloric expenditure from activity can be way off.

    Other things to bare in mind:

    - weight loss is something that can be confusing. You may have increased muscle glycogen stores, which is in partnership with increased water retention . So your lean mass may be increasing slightly.

    - Your body gets more efficient at doing steady state cardio. So whilst week 1 may have been a great workout, by week 3 your body is far more efficient - from a mechanical and chemical point of view. So you are using less energy to do the same task.

    Ultimately, if you are not losing weight as expected, then your calorie deficit is not as expected - either from not enough activity or eating too much.....or a combo of the two.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    You can't trust a device to know exactly what you burn. I'd back way off on eating back huge amounts of exercise calories. Looking at some of the burns it's giving you I know it's more than twice what my HRM tells me I burn for the same type and duration of riding and I often wonder if it's right too
  • Lizflad
    Lizflad Posts: 4 Member
    Are you cycling flats and/or remaining steady for the majority of the ride? If you can, try working in some hill or speed intervals. This article from Cycling Magazine outlines the theory and the practice of interval training - happy pedaling!

    http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/nutrition-weight-loss/fry-fat-intervals
  • ibelieve1968
    ibelieve1968 Posts: 15 Member
    I cycle on a trail that runs through the mountains. It is paved but lots of ups and downs, both longer inclines/down hills and shorter ones. Like Steve2kay, I also have been feeling the swollen feeling in my legs. But that could just be part sodium excess and what part of the month it is (trying to be politically correct lol).

    Got the bodymedia fit as a gift art the same time I began cycling more, but I am thinking that it maybe part of the problem. My calorie burn estimate on my fitbit one (which I was using prior and was losing weight but only cycling 3 times a week due to work schedule) is about 500 calories lower on average.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    ...began riding my bike 5-6 times a week anywhere from 30-90 min at a time at an avg speed of 12-13mph.

    The low end of that range is 6 miles. At 6 miles your burn is somewhere around 300 calories ("depending"). I'm assuming your BodyFit is saying much higher than that...?
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    I am very confused. I just recently went from swing shift to dayshift (about 1 month ago) and began riding my bike 5-6 times a week anywhere from 30-90 min at a time at an avg speed of 12-13mph. I also purchased a Bodymedia Fit as well. My frustration is in that 4 weeks I have gained about 5 pounds. My calorie intake (not always healthy food) the majority of the time is at least 500 calories less (usually more than 500 less) than what it is saying my calorie burn is so I am completely confused as to why the weight gain. Any insight is greatly appreciated!!!


    Sodium
  • ibelieve1968
    ibelieve1968 Posts: 15 Member
    Not even close. It is always l low for bike rides. But I think I proved that this doesn't work very well. Took a 30 minute walk today and it said I only took 949 steps. Runkeeper says I walked almost 1.5 miles in that 30 minutes. Average is around 1800-2000 steps a mile. So if it's off that much on steps it's overall accuracy is definitely questionable. Also, no bike riding today only a 30 minute walk and it says I burned over 2200 calories but only had 3345 steps for the day (??) Fitbit had me at 7509 steps for the day and a calorie burn estimate about 150 calories lower. Think the bodymedia fit has not helped me at all.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Not even close. It is always l low for bike rides. But I think I proved that this doesn't work very well. Took a 30 minute walk today and it said I only took 949 steps. Runkeeper says I walked almost 1.5 miles in that 30 minutes. Average is around 1800-2000 steps a mile. So if it's off that much on steps it's overall accuracy is definitely questionable. Also, no bike riding today only a 30 minute walk and it says I burned over 2200 calories but only had 3345 steps for the day (??) Fitbit had me at 7509 steps for the day and a calorie burn estimate about 150 calories lower. Think the bodymedia fit has not helped me at all.

    Perhaps it's faulty?

    Or, set up wrongly.....

    Perhaps you should go back to using the Fitbit, since it seems you were having success with that device?
  • ibelieve1968
    ibelieve1968 Posts: 15 Member
    It could be setup incorrectly. There are not any instructions for how to set it up. If I follow the let MBF set all the numbers, it has me eating like 2200 calories a day. Today I took a 27 minute walk, made sure I didn't hold the dog leash in my left hand (think that affected the steps yesterday) and it gave me almost 1800 steps for the 1.12 miles. However, it claims I burned 182 calories walking only a little over 2mph. Seems very high to me. I just keep thinking I must be doing some thing wrong because everybody seems to love this thing. I did contact customer service for setup help and was told to watch the very basic video (again) and that they dont guarantee this device will work (DUH). So no help there.
  • christineellis
    christineellis Posts: 296 Member
    I love to ride my bike and enjoy long distance cycling, but it never works for me for weight loss! Unfortunately, I get so hungry with endurance cycling, that I eat everything in sight. In the past, I never figured out how to balance my eating with my cycling. If I ride, I can have huge pasta dinners and post ride celebration meals, as well as eating at every rest stop along the way!

    This year I'm trying something different. I'm working on my diet and weight first. Trying to get the eating under control, then planning to start training in the Spring, as soon as the rain lets up. I will plan to use more fat for fueling and see if that works better in the long run. I just want to be able to ride 100 miles at 145 lbs instead of 155-160! It will make such a big difference.

    Good luck to you!
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
    Keep it up. Cycling helped me lose my weight.

    Be conservative with your burn estimates. 12-13 mph does not require much exertion.
  • samammay
    samammay Posts: 468
    It could be setup incorrectly. There are not any instructions for how to set it up. If I follow the let MBF set all the numbers, it has me eating like 2200 calories a day. Today I took a 27 minute walk, made sure I didn't hold the dog leash in my left hand (think that affected the steps yesterday) and it gave me almost 1800 steps for the 1.12 miles. However, it claims I burned 182 calories walking only a little over 2mph. Seems very high to me. I just keep thinking I must be doing some thing wrong because everybody seems to love this thing. I did contact customer service for setup help and was told to watch the very basic video (again) and that they dont guarantee this device will work (DUH). So no help there.

    Is that 2200 NET? Im 6', 228 and I only have an 1800 NET.

    I have a fitbit and take it off when I ride and use runkeeper instead. Burn about 900/hr at 14mph, give or take on a mountain bike.

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